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Division II: O-G girls have big day in Columbus

By MARK HEIMANSTAFF WRITERCOLUMBUS – Ottawa-Glandorf’s Allison Schroeder was sitting calmly at the south end of Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium Saturday morning waiting for teammate Chelsea Imm to pole vault.Schroeder had the book, The Goal and The Glory, laid out on her leg and she was reading it, while waiting to run later in the day.“My basketball coach, Lori Smith, got it for me for graduation,” Schroeder said. “The first part is about goals, the second glory and the third guts. I’ve gotten through the first two parts, I probably could have used the third part today.”That was hardly the case as Schroeder came from fifth place, and 20 meters back, to help the Titans finish third in the 1,600-meter relay during the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Division II girls state track and field meet.The third place and Schroeder’s third earlier in the 300 hurdles helped O-G tie Orrville for sixth place in the team standings with 26 points. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy ran away with the meet, totaling 60 points. Columbus Bishop Hartley and Warrensville Heights tied for second with 43.“The book is about athletes and their experiences with Christ and how they dealt with setbacks and wins. It’s how everything happens for a reason and that God has a plan for us all and that we should trust in him. I just try to do my part and leave the rest in his hands.”Schroeder did that when she got the baton with Ottawa-Glandorf sitting in fifth. She quickly started to reel in Defiance’s Lena Herrett and Bishop Hartley’s Taisha Ferguson. She caught them at the end of the backstretch and then outdistanced them by three seconds down the stretch.O-G’s team of Jenna Ellerbrock, Dana Lanwehr and Emily Heitmeyer ran a 3:58.88.“Everyone always asks my favorite race and I never give an answer, but I like the 4x4,” said Schroeder, who will run at Notre Dame next year. “I like that adrenaline rush of anchoring.“It is the premier race with the team’s best runners. I love the roar of the crowd as you come around the last stretch. That is one of the things that I am going to miss.”Schroeder’s 300 hurdles finish came in 44.5 seconds, but it was a disappointment since she was the defending state champion.“I wasn’t happy with my hurdles race,” said Schroeder, who has been battling an ankle sprain since basketball. “I came over one of the hurdles on my bad ankle and that didn’t feel the greatest.“I gave it everything I had. There are no regrets about how I ran the race. I wasn’t happy about the finish.”Just ahead of the 1,600 relay, the Titans got a fourth from Abbie Selhorst in the 3,200. The senior moved steadily from the back of the pack and finished in 11:14.15, an improvement of 12 seconds over her previous best.“That’s a typical race for me. I’m better at holding a constant pace,” said Selhorst. “I felt ready and just came out and made it happen.”The Titans thought they had picked up a fourth when Imm vaulted in the morning. But after she had been announced as the fourth-place finisher on the awards stand, she was called back by the judges and told she had finished fifth based on misses.Imm cleared 10-feet-8 for her placing.“I’m surprised. I have not had the best of luck in district and regional,” Imm said. “I have three poles and I have not got on the biggest one. Today I got on it and then I could fly.”Lanwehr ran in the 800 for O-G and finished 12th in 2:21.67.Upper Sandusky’s 400 meter relay team of Lynzi Daughenbaugh, Lacy Daughenbaugh, Lauren Bruynis and Ashleigh Kline had qualified for the finals, but false started.The Rams did have some good news as Jason Beidelchies placed fourth in the boys 110 hurdles with a time of 15.04 seconds. Contact staff writer Mark Heiman at:419-427-8405markheiman@thecourier.com